Luke, “and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned” (8.33). “The pigs puzzle us.” Right, as does Jesus himself, for it seems to me that he took pity on those demons when he acceded to their request.The Gospel narratives move on to the swift reaction of the swineherds and local townspeople (they “were seized with great fear” and asked Jesus to “depart from them”), as well as the equally swift recovery and commissioning of Legion (whom Jesus sent home to proclaim “how much the Lord has done for you”). Was the porcine possession a show of compassion for the hellish habitués?A bizarre amnesty, no matter how fleeting, granted by the Good Shepherd himself?I’m with Sheed who comments, “We long to read deeper into the mind of our Redeemer.” Frankly, I’m also interested in reading deeper into the minds of those devils.Has also been the bane of the Chess Master and the downfall of the Manipulative Bastard on many occasions. Contrast Made Out to Be a Jerkass when a hero stands up to a villain results in this.The Gospels are filled with weird scenes – which you’d expect from eyewitness accounts of an incarnate God.Alternatively, the hero may be concealing a tape recorder, and will replay the villain's words in front of authorities just when it seems as if he'll get away with it all.Turns out that the hero has recorded the whole thing, and the proof of the villain's evilness is Caught on Tape. from the exposed villain when he realizes what's happening, and he usually suffers from a Villainous Breakdown afterward, if he hasn't had one already (in many case, the breakdown may the confession).

The Lord even sends out the future traitor with the other apostles to minister to the crowds – what?They must’ve known that they were still destined to return to Hell eventually, for even if their pig-hosts hadn’t immediately rushed to a watery demise, they would’ve been butchered soon enough.Since Legion’s demons had no doubt about who and what Jesus was (and is), what could’ve motivated their plea for temporary clemency? Is it possible that these damned creatures were displaying a last vestige of hope, however unlikely? What we do know, however, is that the graphic transfer of Legion’s burden to the doomed pigs was a stark display of release and liberation.He and the disciples had just arrived in the region of Gerasa (or Gadara, or Gergesa – there’s some confusion about this) after a rough passage across the Sea of Galilee.A deadly tempest had terrified the disciples, but a sleepy Jesus had taken it in stride and quelled it almost as an afterthought.